Prize(s) Winners in Public Building Lighting Design
Company Tillotson Design Associates
Lead Designers Suzan Tillotson, Shan Jiang, Chandni Azeez, Mark Kubicki
Other Designer's names Beyer Blinder Belle, Mecanoo
Client New York Public Library
Photo Credits John Bartelstone Photography
Completion Date May 2023
Project Location New York, NY
Entry DescriptionOur inspiration came from simple globes in the historical chandeliers. The Visitors Center historical chandeliers have retrofit LED lamps. Small dia. accentlights with custom collars add a layer of light. Uplighting concealed on top of the mezzanine stacks illuminates the wood coffered ceiling.
Custom chandeliers appear to provide the ambient light in the Research Center. The simple forms of bronze rings and glass globes are a nod to the original historical fixtures but with onboard LED technology. The quantities, diameters of rings, and number of globes vary depending on the scale/ceiling height of the rooms.
Concealed uplight in the rings illuminates the ceiling without requiring the globes to be overly bright. Energy usage is reduced by using table lamps.
Perimeter lighting, concealed in the mezzanine railing and beams, adds warmth featuring the books.
Simple 14” diameter globe pendants march down the corridors, softly illuminating the ceilings and stone wainscot.
Continuous lighting emphasizes the bronze railing while simple globes married with a linear wallgrazer punctuate green marble walls at each landing.
At the floating stairs, fixtures with calibrated optics concealed throughout create a glow on the marble.
Gottesman Hall re-used the existing track system with retrofit LED tracklights. Min. 2fc general illumination allows focus to be on exhibition cases.
Company DescriptionTillotson Design Associates, founded in 2004, is a WBE lighting design consultancy based in New York City. A diverse staff with backgrounds in architecture, interior design, and theater, including several LEED accredited professionals, combine talents to create exemplary work. Together, our principals provide over 80 years of lighting expertise. The launch of Tillotson Design Associates came just after Ms. Tillotson completed lighting designs for the Seattle Central Public Library and Prada Beverly Hills with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture.
